


Bulletproof

by ilithiyarys



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: 8x03 references, Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Love Confessions, Mid Season 8, Upstead, anyway i'm not upset, because i'm manifesting it so hard, effective emotional communicator upstead is back, hahaha oh my god okay i'm gonna stop now, just a lil disappointed, like hella, post 8x03, tw blood, why is it so hard for them to have a normal conversation about how they feel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28160217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilithiyarys/pseuds/ilithiyarys
Summary: While out to bring in a suspect, Hailey gets shot saving Jay's life. While the vest saves her life, she isn't quite in the clear.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 103





	Bulletproof

**Author's Note:**

> Set in s8 - Jay and Hailey are together, but still keeping it a secret from their team (although they all know because duh)
> 
> We know that Jay and Hailey are gonna explore their feelings for each other and I haven't been able to stop thinking about that dynamic - of working together and being together. How do you keep it professional when someone you deeply care for and love is hurt? And I kind of wanted to explore Jay's side of things if something were to happen to hailey. 
> 
> Some 8x03 references, but again, this is set later on than that!

“You ready?” Jay asked, grasping the door handle.

Hailey nodded at her partner.

Jay silently counted to three, quietly opening the door for Hailey to breach first. Like a well-choreographed dance, they entered one after the other training their guns ahead of them - Jay’s hand firmly supporting her right shoulder, reminding her that he’s got her back.

They broke off to clear different rooms - Hailey taking the left and Jay taking the right.

“Clear,” they whispered, after exiting every room. They slowly cleared the hallway, clearing each room on the way down.

It wasn’t until they reached the very end into the open part of the warehouse when Hailey noticed the glint of a rifle scope. Their suspect had baited them all along.

Before she could even say anything, the blonde reacted just as quick to tackle her partner to the ground into cover as a hail of gunfire erupted through the warehouse. She felt a stinging sensation radiating through the left side of her body.

“Hailey!” Jay shouted as she rolled onto her back onto the floor. He felt the panic arise in the pit of his stomach - she was shot.

He reached down, scanning her body, finding not one, but two chunks of metal smashed into her vest in the abdomen, just an inch apart from each other. A wave of relief came over him, seeing that her vest took it. He was thankful they were wearing their vests in the first place.

She gasped out in pain. “I’m good... Vest took it… Go…”

He nodded, lifting his hand off her abdomen to chase after the shooter, leaving her to catch her breath on the floor.

Unfortunately, the shooter was gone by the time Jay had reached outside of the warehouse. He called it in, notifying dispatch that their suspect was still on the loose and that they were in need on an ambulance. He quickly sprinted back to his partner.

The blonde was still sprawled out on the ground with her eyes closed, focusing on her breathing. The rifle rounds knocked the wind out of her.

He began undoing her vest to help her breathe a little better. She attempted to sit up but he wouldn’t let her, gently holding her shoulder to keep her laid down.

“Ambo’s three minutes out Hails, don’t get up. Let the medics get here and assess you,”

“Jay…I’m... I'm fine,” she wheezed. He quirked his brow.

“Yeah, that wheezing says otherwise. Besides, you might've cracked a rib. Can I check?”

Hailey scrunched her nose at him. “Yeah,”

He gently lifted her shirt under the vest and found some angry, dark bruising already setting in on the left side of her abdomen.

“Shit, Hailey… That doesn’t look good. How are you feeling?”

“Like I was just shot,” the blonde rasped.

Jay chuckled. “I would say that was dumb of you to take a bullet for me but four years into being partners, I realize that’s an argument I’m never going to win. So I’m just gonna say thank you for saving my ass,”

“Gotta keep you on your toes,” she slowly let out.

The brunette nodded in agreement. “Oh, you definitely do,”

Hailey let a few seconds pass before letting him in through her walls. It was a genuine fear she’d developed the first time he’d been shot over the course of them being partners, and a near trigger for her after the second time, when she thought he wasn't going to make it.

“Couldn't handle the thought of you getting shot again. Not under my watch...”

There was a slight emphasis on ‘again’ and it was then that he’d realized how she must have felt every time he’d gotten shot.

He knew exactly how she felt now.

Suddenly, she sucked in a sharp breath. Jay’s eyes quickly widened, alert and attentive to the changes that were happening in his partner.

“Hailey? Honey, what’s going on?”

“Can’t… Breathe,” she gasped.

The blonde began to cough, and that’s when he knew something was wrong. She was coughing up blood.

Jay's mind was running at a thousand miles an hour. “Oh God, okay, I’m gonna turn you on to your side to help relieve the pressure. You’ve got internal bleeding,”

Hailey nodded, continuing to cough. She could taste the iron tinge bubbling in the back of her throat. A stream of crimson slowly gushed down the side of her mouth onto the ground. Jay tried his best to stay calm, but he was panicking. He didn’t know what else to do.

"Jay..." She gurgled.

With perfect timing, the medics rushed in with the rest of the Intelligence team following. They quickly took over, bumping the brunette detective off to the side, watching helplessly as the medics worked to save his partner’s life.

Voight’s gravelly voice cut through his train of thought, taking ahold of his shoulders.

“Oh God. Jay, what happened?”

“I - uh… Hailey… She took two rounds to the vest. She was fine and then she, uh, started coughing up blood. Sarge… She saved my life. Pushed me out of the way and took those bullets for me,”

His eyes were dead set on his partner, who was still coughing up blood on the floor. The medics had slipped an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth but they needed to get her to the hospital fast. Hank saw what was happening, and tried to reassure his detective.

“Jay, listen to me. This is not your fault. Hear me? This is not on you,”

The detective continued to blankly stare at his partner.

“Hey, Jay, look at me. Do not blame yourself.”

They both watched as the medics loaded her onto the gurney. Voight gently shook Jay’s shoulder. “Roll with her to med. We got this,”

He nodded, helping the medics rush her into the ambulance.

* * *

What was a ten minute ambulance ride to Gaffney seemed to be the longest ride of his life. The medics managed to put in a chest tube in Hailey's side, but she was still coughing up blood despite being relieved of the pressure that was building up in her lungs.

It was horrifying, how much blood she was losing. It was on her oxygen mask, dripping down the sides of her face. She was still conscious, but in incredible distress. Jay held on to her hand as long as he could before his brother stopped him as they whisked her away into the OR.

“Jay, she’s going to be okay. Her vest took most of the impact, it would have been a different story if she weren't wearing it, okay? You did good. She fought all the way here, she’s gonna keep fighting on that table. She’s in the best hands,” Will said, keeping his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“I… I can’t lose her Will,” Jay's voice quavered, and the redhead could see his brother fighting tears that were threatening to fall. He took him into his embrace, hugging the younger brunette. Jay fought hard not to cry, but the moment his older brother held him he couldn’t fight it any longer. Years of bottled up feelings had finally slipped through the cracks and he let out a sob he’d been holding in for so long.

* * *

Two hours had gone by, and they were still waiting for an update on Hailey. Jay had sat in the corner of the waiting room, unmoving, unresponsive to anyone or anything. His eyes were red-rimmed, evident of crying.

It wasn’t until Will came back around, that Jay finally moved. Everyone stood up to hear the news.

“Hailey’s stable. Her vest took the brunt of the damage but the impact caused some internal bleeding. She initially was fine and then began to crash due to the blood that was filling up in her lung. Dr. Marcel managed to repair the damage but had to remove her spleen. She also has two cracked ribs but those will heal on their own over time. They’re just moving her into recovery now. One of you can see her after the nurses are done setting her up in her room.”

The team all agreed Jay should be the one to see her. They’d all seen how much of a mess he was while she was in surgery, nearly mirroring the state Hailey had been when he was shot by Angela Nelson a year ago.

They were so fiercely protective of one another, and everyone could see that. Every one of them patted Jay on the back, reassuring him and encouraging him. They knew all too well that it was never easy when a partner was injured on the job.

* * *

Will brought Jay up to Hailey’s room. 

"Thanks, Will. For earlier," Jay said, alluding to the moment they had as Hailey was whisked into the OR.

The redhead nodded. "Of course. You're my brother. It's okay to fall apart, and I hope you don't let that stop you from feeling what you need to feel."

Jay nodded. "Yeah, I know. I haven't always been the best at it,"

Will quirked a brow. "You and me both,"

They stood by the door for a few seconds before Will's pager went off. "I have a consult I need to run to, but I'll catch up in a bit. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Will do. Thanks again,"

They shared a quick hug before the doctor went off. Jay stood by the door, somewhat nervous to see his girlfriend.

He sucked in a long breath before opening up the door.

Hailey was asleep, which he was thankful for. She needed the rest - her body did. He saw how distressed she was, being unable to get in full breaths in the ambulance. He also felt a lot better seeing that she was no longer covered in blood-riddled saliva. That in and of itself was terrifying - it was never good when someone was coughing up blood. He was also relieved to see that she was breathing on her own, having only a nasal cannula supplementing her with oxygen.

A shiver ran down Jay's spine. Four years into their partnership and he'd never seen her in the hospital before. She looked so tiny in that bed.

He quietly brought a chair to her bedside, taking her hand in his once again.

"Hails, you really scared me today," he whispered, bringing his other hand under his chin to support his head. "Just when I thought you were gonna be okay, you suddenly weren't. It really made me realize..."

He let out a low chuckle, not quite finishing his train of thought.

"Remember that night at the bar, when you challenged me after you got an offer from the feds? You said, _'you know, you could just tell me you don't want me to take it,'_ and it was that moment I wasn't sure if I was terrified or completely turned on. But it was also that moment that put things into perspective for me. I knew what you were trying to say, Hailey. I knew you were confronting me to ask you to stay."

Jay let out another laugh. "I guess I just froze in that moment. I wanted to laugh, cry. It was like every emotion I'd ever felt hit me in that very moment because of course, as fate would have it, this _would_ happen to me again. I couldn't process the thought of losing another partner to the feds. But I just didn't want it to have to come down for you to turn down something that would be so incredible for your career, for a partner who couldn't figure out their shit or how to properly express it,"

He reminisced how chaotic that night was.

"Hailey, when I ran after you into the parking lot after you left the bar, those three words were sitting at the tip of my tongue. And they tasted so sweet, Hailey, they really did. My heart was racing, and I just knew I wanted to say it to you. But I just couldn't bring myself to say them out loud because I also know I have a tendency to just say those words and them to not actually mean anything. I didn't trust myself just yet... I wanted to be a hundred percent sure I was ready to say it to you and mean it because you deserve that, Hailey. You deserve all of that and more. So when I said that I wanted you and kissed you for the first time, I knew I wanted to wait for the right moment to say those three words,"

Jay paused, rubbing circles on the back of her hand.

"And then we started seeing each other, more than partners. I felt such a rush, sneaking behind our team's back to see each other. Sneaking in moments to kiss in the locker room without anyone seeing, holding each other in the back of my truck whenever we needed to get away from the horrors of the day, whatever. I felt like I was finally living again. And we both agreed that we would come forward to everyone when we were ready. Although I think everyone knows at this point, I was such a mess today," He laughed.

"But it just reminded me how our next moments are never promised. We should know that more than anyone. And today, when I saw that your vest had taken those bullets, I felt relieved because I knew you'd be okay. That the bullets didn't go through. But then your condition turned so quickly, and when you started coughing up blood, it was like all the moments we'd had together just flashed before my eyes. I was this close to losing you, and I didn't get to tell you that I love you. And I know this isn't the perfect spot, perfect moment, but I can't go on without you knowing, Hailey. I love you. You are everything to me, and everything I need. I love you,"

Then, as if it were a scene out of a movie, she slowly stirred, opening her eyes. 

"Hailey," he smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

"Hi," she whispered, still raspy from her coughing fit.

Jay rubbed his thumb against her forehead. "I'm glad you're awake,"

"Me too. Did you catch the guy?"

"We did. He won't see the light of day for a very long time,"

"Good,"

A few seconds passed by, before Jay broke the silence. He ran his hand through his hair, trying not to be embarrassed. "Not to ruin the moment... Did you happen to hear me when I was talking to you?"

"I did," she grinned.

He could feel his face turning red. "How much of it?"

"All of it," she chuckled. "I wasn't fully asleep, just tired. I woke up right after the surgery and was chatting with the nurses before feeling the morphine settle in. Then I heard you come in and felt you next to me and you started talking. I didn't wanna interrupt you, so I let you keep going."

Jay laughed out of embarrassment. "Sneaky,"

Hailey moved her head so that her eyes could meet his. "I love you too, Jay."

"Yeah?" He smiled.

"Yeah," she nodded. "And I'd take bullets for you, clearly. So yes, I love you, Jay Halstead."

"Good, now I don't feel so dumb," he winked, relieved that she felt the same way. Though he had a gut feeling she had for a very long time.

She playfully rolled her eyes. "Shut up and kiss me,"

And he did.


End file.
